Shattered Ice
by Spunky0ne
Summary: As the shinigamis pick up the pieces after the quincy war, Aizen is found with Kuchiki Tetsuya's spellbound body. His spirit shattered by the violence, Tetsuya lies, unresponsive. Desperate to see Tetsuya revived, Byakuya makes a deal with Aizen that could end up shaking the foundation of the worlds...Renji/Byakuya, Ichigo/Tetsuya, Aizen/Gin.
1. The Vigil

**Shattered Ice**

**By Spunky0ne**

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_**As the shinigamis pick up the pieces after the soul king protection war, an unconscious Aizen Sosuke is found alongside Kuchiki Tetsuya's spellbound body. His spirit shattered by the violence of the war, Tetsuya lies, unresponsive. Desperate to see his beloved cousin revived, Byakuya makes a deal with Aizen that begins as a private exchange of favors, but could end up shaking the heavens…yaoi, Renji/Byakuya, Aizen/Gin, Ichigo/Tetsuya, Uryu/Orihime, Kisuke/Yoruichi**_

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**Chapter 1: The Vigil**

Renji wasn't sure what brought him out of sleep. He wasn't a person to wake much during the night, once he'd wound down enough from the day to fall asleep. It might have been the lack of movement on the other side of the bed, or perhaps the warmth of the man he was used to curling his naked body around. It could have been that he turned in his sleep and reached for the one who wasn't there, or that maybe the flicker of Byakuya's deep worry carried through the powerful bond between them. Whatever it was, Renji sat up in bed, blinking in the moonlight that came in through the open garden doors.

"Bya?" he mumbled sleepily.

The other side of the bed showed no signs of having been disturbed.

"Huh…" Renji sighed worriedly, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck, "I guess I know where you are."

He slipped out of the bed and stood for a moment with the moon lighting his tall, tanned body and making the dark, jagged tattoos stand out. One hand reached out and found a black and gold silk yukata pain over a chair near the bed, and Renji wrapped it around himself, tying it at the waist. A light footstep sounded in the inner doorway and Renji smiled sleepily at the attendant who appeared there.

"Hey Torio," Renji chuckled, "You know, you don't have to get up every time me or Taicho move in our sleep."

"It's fine," the attendant said dismissively, "I am glad to serve you and Byakuya-sama. Is there something you need, Renji-san?"

"Eh, not really," Renji admitted, running his fingers through the autumn strands of his hair, "I just woke up and he wasn't here. But, I think I already know where I'll find him."

Torio nodded sadly.

"It seems he spends every free moment trying to wake our cousin…or just sitting with him."

"Yeah," Renji agreed, his voice low and rough, "Tetsuya never should have had to be out there. He's a great fighter, but he doesn't have the heart to kill like that…"

"Or to witness such horrors," Torio said in a haunted voice, "Koji says that he was already at the ends of his endurance when he found the bodies of the children that were slaughtered by the enemy. Only a single word has passed his lips since that moment…nothing but the screams in his nightmares."

"Yeah," Renji acknowledged, "I think that would mess up anyone…'cept maybe the bastard who did it."

"You will be glad to know that our cousin did avenge the children, albeit almost wordlessly."

"Well, I hope the son of a bitch died painfully," Renji said in a disgusted tone.

Torio nodded.

"There is a technique that Tetsuya-san only uses to execute a truly egregious offender. He first strikes a blow to the torso, then slowly freezes the enemy. In extreme cases, he can keep the enemy alive until he gives the command to shatter the target's body and disperse the particles. In this case, he left the quincy alive and his head unfrozen for the duration. Still, Tetsuya-san's heart is fragile. Even watching one who deserved it was difficult. I fear it only added to the stress that finally overcame him."

Renji stole a glance in the direction of Tetsuya's bedroom.

"I heard that they found him near Aizen," the redhead said softly.

Torio nodded.

"After dispatching the quincy who killed the children, Tetsuya-san staggered away. We think he was sensing you on the battlefield, and he thought that finding you would lead him to Byakuya-sama. By the time he reached the battlefield, the fight had ended. Koji said that he tried to convince Tetsuya-san to fall back. His Re-kuhime had shattered under the stress of the fighting. Tetsuya-san was only using kido, flash step, healing power and his wits to stay alive."

"He's lucky he didn't end up dead," Renji mused, "especially being the one who found Aizen."

"There was horrible damage to the traitor, Aizen's body."

"Yeah," Renji said, paling slightly.

_It still feels weird that Aizen took that damage for me. But I know that he was only helping us because it would help him too. If killing us would have helped him more, he would've done that._

Renji frowned.

"Torio, I heard a rumor going around that what shattered Tetsuya's sword wasn't fighting."

Torio looked around nervously, then he bit his lip gently and leaned closer.

"Koji was with him when it broke, and he said it was Tetsuya-san's effort to heal Ukitake taicho."

Renji's frown deepened.

"_Tetsuya_ is the one who saved Ukitake?" he asked wonderingly, "And they're keeping that a secret? Why?"

Torio's look or worry intensified.

"Byakuya-sama wouldn't say exactly," he answered, "but I heard it may be because it was Aizen who told him, and Byakuya-sama…"

"He wouldn't be stupid enough to just accept whatever Aizen said," Renji surmised.

"Byakuya-sama has been second guessing his own judgment, because Aizen also protected you, even…"

"Even if it was for his own weird reasons."

"Yes. And now, the fact that this information about Tetsuya-san comes through such an unreliable source…"

"Kinda makes it difficult."

"It does," Torio agreed, "I will also confide in you that something very strange has happened to Tetsuya-sans's Re-kuhime. The blade is still gone, but the guard, hilt and pommel are intact, and Renji-san, the guard has changed."

Renji's cinnamon eyes narrowed.

"The guard changed?" he repeated, "To what?"

"His guard was a teardrop shape," Torio confided.

"I remember that."

"That broke away and has started to re-form, but the shape is now a full oval, and there are four small inscriptions in the metal. One is Re-kuhime's teardrop. The others cannot be seen well enough to tell what they are yet."

"That's really strange."

"Urahara Kisuke has said that a sudden change to his zanpakuto means a change in Tetsuya-san's powers. But, try as he might, he can't seem to tell what the change could be."

"I guess Tetsuya will have to wake up for that to happen, right?" concluded Renji.

"So, it seems. But even with the human girl, Orihime's help, no one can seem to find a way to bring Tetsuya-san back to us."

"Hmm," Renji sighed, running his hands over his face, "well, I can't say I have any ideas. If Kisuke can't figure it out, I don't know who can."

Renji took his leave of the attendant and exited the master suite, stepping out through the garden doors, onto the recently rebuilt walkway. A smile rose on his lips as he spotted Ichigo and Rukia walking along the garden trail.

"Hey," he greeted them.

He paused, noting the nagging limp still in Ichigo's step.

"You still all beat up? I thought Orihime healed you. You get into more trouble?"

"Nah," Ichigo sighed, "It's just taking awhile to get back to normal, that's all. How about yourself?"

"I'm fine," Renji assured him, "Can't say that I like the reason that I'm fine, exactly…"

"Yeah," Rukia agreed, "I'd be a little creeped out, being saved by Aizen too."

"Yeah, especially after he threatened to rip my arms off when I wouldn't let go of you," Renji said, shaking his head.

"I'm glad he's back in Muken, where he belongs," Rukia said, frowning.

"Yeah," Renji agreed, "Seems like prison only twisted that freak even more."

"Seems that way," Ichigo agreed.

"Hey, Renji, have you seen my brother?" asked Rukia.

"Nah, you know Byakuya, always up early. Hell, I don't even know if he came to bed at all last night. He's been on edge lately, even more than normal for after the war."

"I noticed that too," Rukia commented, "He's been spending lots of time with Tetsuya."

"Tetsuya?" Ichigo mused, "You mean, the cousin that everyone was worried about? Is he still unconscious? It's been weeks."

"Yes, it has," Rukia said somberly, "Everyone has tried…Isane, Hanataro, our clan healer, Kisuke, even Orihime, but he still doesn't wake."

"I don't think Tetsuya really knew how to handle the stress of open war," Renji said sadly, "He's okay in single conflicts. Byakuya trained Tetsuya, himself."

"I heard he has a bankai," said Ichigo.

"Yeah, he does," Rukia affirmed, "But Tetsuya never liked killing. He rarely took a life before the war…only people who he felt gave him no other choice."

"Heh, except for him being more of a healer, it sounds like me," Ichigo mused.

"Ugh, you're even worse," Renji chuckled, "You don't just leave'em alive. You make friends with your former enemies."

"I didn't make friends with Ywach," Ichigo said, sobering, "Him, I did have to kill."

"You didn't make friends with Aizen," Rukia added.

"But, he did make friends with me, Kenpachi, Byakuya and most of the others he fought," Renji pointed out, "Hell, even Ginjo and Tsukushima showed up to help him!"

Renji let out a long sigh.

"Well, I'd better go and check in with Byakuya before I leave for work."

"I'll go with you," Rukia offered, "I want to say hi to Tetsuya."

She nodded in Ichigo's direction.

"You can come along, then I'm going to go to the fourth and visit Ukitake Taicho."

"Sounds good to me," Ichigo answered, "Hanataro said it was good for me to be up and around, just not fighting."

The three walked back to the main building and stepped onto the walkway outside Tetsuya's room. Rukia stepped into the room with the two young men behind her. She spotted her brother kneeling at Tetsuya's side, his head bowed and his eyes closed. Kisuke knelt beside the noble, leaning over Tetsuya and checking his vital signs.

"Good morning Nii-sama. Good morning, Urahara-san," she greeted them.

"Morning," Kisuke said amiably.

Byakuya's grey eyes opened.

"Rukia, Renji, Ichigo, good morning," he added.

"How is Tetsuya?" Rukia asked, leading her two friends to Tetsuya's bedside, where the three knelt together, "Has he been awake at all?"

"No," Kisuke said somberly, "He's been the same. Orihime was up a lot of the night until Uryu convinced her to go to bed for awhile. Nothing's changed at all."

"Damn," Renji sighed.

He glanced across Tetsuya's resting form to look into Byakuya's dark, anxious eyes.

"How are you? If you came to bed at all last night, I didn't know about it?"

"Ah," Byakuya said, flushing very slightly, "I am sorry, Renji. I did mean to speak to you, but things have been moving very quickly."

"What? Things with the end of the war? Rebuilding? Tetsuya? The clan? What?" Renji inquired.

"Hmm, sort of everything," Byakuya admitted, "The elders want to award Tetsuya with the clan's highest honor, for his protection efforts during the war, we are still picking up the pieces around here and there have been rumors of a quincy insurgency gathering in Hueco Mundo."

"I've been in touch with Grimmjow, and he's assured me that the hollows there are monitoring that," said Kisuke, "but it's a concern."

"Then, there is Tetsuya," Byakuya went on, "We still do not know exactly what happened to him. Kyoraku Sotaicho is trying to authenticate whether or not Aizen was telling the truth when he said that it was Tetsuya who healed Juushiro. Central 46 is demanding to know if such a thing is true."

"Huh, why do they care?" Renji mused, "Weren't they the ones who pretty much ignored everything about Tetsuya before?"

"Yes," Byakuya answered, his tone betraying a measure of disgust, "They didn't want to hear about him being held illegally in a prison and abused for much of his youth, but as soon as it is about power…"

"Assholes," Renji spat.

"Man, they just don't like anyone who isn't _one of them_ to have any power," Ichigo sighed, "If they could, they'd keep it all to themselves."

"They are very particular about the distribution of power," Byakuya agreed, "But…if you look at how an outsider just nearly undid us…it still doesn't justify the attitude, but you can envision why they are afraid."

Ichigo looked down at Tetsuya's comely sleeping face and felt an odd little twinge inside.

"Afraid of a guy like him? Someone who wishes he never had to fight in the first place?" he asked with a note of anger.

"Tetsuya is what the more traditional elders fear most," Byakuya said unhappily, "Born of a noble father who gave his seed to a Rukongai woman. They feel that the commoners do not deserve to wield noble power. They forget that power is not gifted to the noble class alone."

He glanced at Ichigo.

"Although it does tend to run in noble families," he added, "Tell me, Ichigo, are you becoming acclimatized to your new situation?"

"What?" Ichigo asked, smiling at the Kuchiki leader, "You mean, do I like being a Shiba?"

"Yes."

"Well, I have to say, if it was a real stuffy, traditional family I was in, I would've been in trouble and I wouldn't have liked it so much, but being a Shiba isn't too bad," the ginger youth chuckled, "I just wish they would stop shoving women at me and telling me how many clans want their daughters to marry me. I'm just eighteen. I don't want all of this…"

"I share your feelings about that," Byakuya sighed, "Since the war, the elders have renewed their push to see me married."

"Yeah," Renji laughed, "Hey, I even said that I had no objection if he wanted to marry me now."

"But you're not noble," Ichigo noted, "Don't they care about that?"

"Only a few of my relatives are that traditional in their view," Byakuya answered, "The rest look at Renji's ability and they want to make use of it to maintain our position amongst the noble houses. There has been a shift of power, because the war impacted a number of the clans. Several were wiped out entirely."

"Damn," Ichigo breathed, lowering his eyes and looking down at Tetsuya again, "No wonder he hates war so much. I do too."

"I think we all do," Rukia added.

She nodded and stood.

"Well, Ichigo and I are going to visit Ukitake taicho. We'll see you and Renji later. Come on, Ichigo."

Ichigo started to stand, then he froze as he brushed lightly against Tetsuya's bare hand and a powerful blue light erupted around them, throwing everyone else to the edges of the room.

"What the…?" Ichigo gasped, staring in dismay.

He went silent as a bright, almost blinding image flashed in his mind, then he screamed as it caused an eruption of pain in his head. As the others watched wordlessly, the hero of Soul Society slumped and collapsed onto the floor.


	2. Evernight

**Chapter 2: Evernight**

Ichigo found himself dazed and wandering in darkness, the sky above him lit by the brightness of a full, white moon and a sea of lovely stars. There was a gentle sweetness on the breeze that felt familiar, but that, try as he might, he just couldn't place. He looked around at the shapes of trees and brush, then followed the little trail he was on, his mind working to piece together how he had gotten where he was.

_Something weird happened._

_I know I was at Kuchiki Manor. Rukia said it was time to go. I stood up and…something happened._

_How did I get here?_

_How do I get back?_

He didn't see any sense in turning back, since he didn't know how he'd gotten onto the trail in the first place. He didn't feel like there was any great danger. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact of his knowing that the situation was strange, he would have been gently lulled by the coolness and gentleness of the breeze, the pleasant scents around him and just the general calm of the night.

_It's actually really pretty here. I wonder where I am. Am I just dreaming right now? Did I pass out or something? I suppose that it could be that I'm still kinda recovering from the fighting. The healers told me to take it easy, still, I wasn't overdoing anything. I think I was just getting up to go._

Ichigo's feet slowed as he spotted something ahead of him…the brightness of the moon, reflecting on a mirrored surface. As he moved closer, he could see little ripples. He recognized the surface of a quiet lake and the little trickling sounds of a small waterfall. And looking closer, he noticed that there was someone under the waterfall, his body lit by mingled splashes of falling water and brilliant moonlight. He seemed to sense that he was being watched and his head turned.

_He looks kinda like Tetsuya, but…not._

There was a powerful feel to the lovely man's reiatsu, and his gentle smile and bright blue eyes drew the Shiba heir closer. The man paused in his bathing and gazed quietly at Ichigo. His lips moved, but Ichigo couldn't make out the words. The man's hand rose, indicating someone collapsed at the edge of the water and Ichigo frowned and turned to look.

"Tetsuya!" he called out, recognizing the young man who was unconscious on the shore of the lake.

He rushed to Tetsuya's side and dropped to his knees, shaking the young man gently to try to wake him.

"Tetsuya, come on," he said urgently, "Something weird is going on. I don't know where I am. What is that place? Who is that guy? How did we get here? Am I dreaming or something? What's going on? Tetsuya!"

He looked up and started to speak to the man under the waterfall, only to find that the mystery person had disappeared.

"Tetsuya," he called again, "who was that guy? Where are we?"

A few more minutes only proved the futility of his efforts, and he went quiet, his mind working to try to make sense of everything that was happening.

_Okay, this is really, really strange, but…I don't feel like I'm in danger here. I feel like this place, whatever it is, has something to do with Tetsuya being unconscious. Looking back, I think I may have brushed up against him as I was getting up to leave. There was a big flash of white and I saw something…a garden, I think. There was that man from before, and there was someone else. It's so strange. I feel like I should know them._

He turned his attention back to Tetsuya, who laid, curled in the soft grass by the lake, his body quivering intermittently and his face reflecting pain and intense fear. He flinched at Ichigo's touch, but his eyes remained closed and his heart rate and breathing elevated.

_Maybe I can help by trying to calm him down a little._

Ichigo sat down in the grass and lifted Tetsuya to rest against him. He talked softly into the restless sleeping man's ear, trying to soothe him. At first, there seemed to be no change, but gradually, Tetsuya's body began to relax in his arms, and the young man slept more quietly. Ichigo sighed in frustration as he looked down at Tetsuya's lovely sleeping face.

_What's going on here? There must be something that brought me here to you. I know you were traumatized by the battle and you weren't waking up, but how did we end up here?_

_Where are we?_

Ichigo looked around again, his brow furrowing as he studied their surroundings and reached out with his senses.

_This…whole place feels like…him._

He blinked slowly, considering.

_I've been in places like this before._

_Yeah…_

_Sometimes in battle, I've had it happen where I seemed to make a connection with my enemy's mind. During the fighting, I was able to enter my enemy's inner world. Tetsuya's definitely not an enemy. His reiatsu and mine seem to mesh comfortably. I don't feel any sign that I'm unwelcome here. In fact, it feels like he is comfortable with me. And I feel comfortable with him. And being that I've been let in here, I feel like there's something I should be doing. Maybe there's a way to wake him up or something. At the very least, I'm supposed to learn something important by being here. I wonder what it is._

_Damn…_

Ichigo closed his eyes for a few moments, breathing in Tetsuya's gentle, sweet scent and reaching out with his heart. He felt again the anguish that wracked the young man's heart, and when he opened his eyes, he made a sound of surprise as he realized that images were beginning to form on the surface of the lake…what looked like reflections of the recent quincy invasion. Amidst the flashes of fire and kido and with the ground shaking under his feet, a battered looking Tetsuya flash stepped recklessly towards a place where the fighting seemed most fierce.

"B-byakuya-sama!" he gasped, his dazed eyes blinking and staring in the direction of the heated exchange.

He ran forward, lifting an arm to shield his face as a bright conflagration began to flare up in front of him and the ground shook so hard that he fell. His landing took the breath out of him and Tetsuya panted and coughed, shuddering as a heavy blast of fire and light passed over him, singeing his exposed skin. His blue eyes blinked and filled with dread as the light and smoke ahead of him roiled, then slowly began to clear.

"Tetsuya-san!" called a male voice from behind him, "Tetsuya-san, wait! It's too dangerous. P-please wait for the smoke and dust to clear!"

But Tetsuya seemed driven nearly to the point of madness. He dragged himself to his feet and staggered on, his anguished attendant following more carefully and protecting his master's path. Tetsuya stumbled forward relentlessly, honing in on where he still sensed strong power burning. Whatever conflict he had sensed, seemed to have ended, but the flares and intermittent explosions continued as Tetsuya made his slow, jolting advance. He slowed as he spotted several collapsed bodies. One by one, he checked them. He found two simply unconscious, but the third, a familiar man with long, flowing hair that was splashed in black muck…Tetsuya felt an odd jolt of fate in his insides.

"Ukitake taicho?" he asked, coughing as the smoke continued its assault.

Tetsuya closed his burning eyes, laying a palm on the collapsed taicho's chest and sensing his condition. He started to feel a looming sadness at the weakness of the older man's reiatsu and the definite decline, meaning that death was approaching. Tetsuya's eyes filled with devastated tears as the faces and voices of all of the fallen he had seen surrounded him and attacked his harried mind.

_It's too much!_

_Why is this happening? Our family? Our friends? Our homes and all of the familiar places? Why is it like this?_

Despair gripped his insides and he collapsed onto the dying man's chest, sobbing heartbrokenly.

_I should just die here too._

_So many have lost their lives and we will never, ever be the same. I've fought for every step and borne the horrors of each loss, but I don't know how I can take any more._

"You can't help him," a low, quiet voice said suddenly from somewhere in the darkness near him, "but you can help me."

Tetsuya's teeth clenched and his slender body jerked into alertness. He held Juushiro against him, as though desperate to protect him, even as he died. His blue eyes raked the smoke and darkness and found a pair of dark, curious brown eyes gazing at him.

_Aizen Sosuke?_

The former taicho laid, pinned in the wreckage and missing an arm. His upper torso had been blasted through, so that part was also missing. Blood ran from his nose and mouth.

"Kuchiki Tetsuya, isn't it?" he managed.

He studied the younger man's rigid posture and the death grip he held on the dying taicho.

"Do you really think that you can save him?" Aizen asked.

_It's too much_, Tetsuya's heart whispered, _I've seen too many lives end…too much of our world destroyed. I don't know if I'll ever see Byakuya-sama or Rukia-chan or Renji-san again, and I know that, even if I do, everything will have changed._

_Why?_

_Why did that all have to happen?_

A vision of the slaughtered children he had found returned to his agitated mind, further unhinging him. Tetsuya's breaths shortened and his eyes rounded and went senseless. In front of him, Aizen sighed in understanding.

"I see. Reality is too much, is it? Would it help you then, to be able to escape for a moment? Here then, I think I have enough power left to help you…so you can help me."

He met Tetsuya's feral, maddened eyes and loosed his shikai.

"Shatter."

Instantly, Tetsuya calmed. His eyes blinked slowly and cleared. Aizen watched him closely and nodded in approval.

"You should be able to heal me now. Come, Tetsuya."

Tetsuya seemed not to hear. He focused his glazed eyes on Juushiro and his hand caressed the nearly dead taicho's face tenderly.

"I won't let you die," he promised.

Aizen's dark eyes widened as white power began to swell all around the younger shinigami. Tetsuya's lips smiled as that power seemed to flow out of him and into Juushiro, burning away the blackness that had tried to claim him.

"Begone," Tetsuya hissed at Mimihagi, "you have no place here."

_He belongsssss to me_, the blackness seethed.

"No," Tetsuya said sternly, increasing the whiteness around him until it became blinding, "I claim this soul in the name of…!"

A hard shock tore Ichigo out of the vision. He made a sound of pain and tried to hold onto Tetsuya, but another jolt dragged him back through the darkness and sent him crashing down into his body. He found himself lying in a comfortable bed with Rukia, Byakuya and Renji leaned over him on one side, while an elderly healer smiled down at him from the other side.

"Wh-what the heck?" he panted, trying to sit up.

"Take it easy," Renji said, shoving him back down.

"Ow! Quit it!" Ichigo snapped petulantly, "What're you doing, Renji?"

"What am I doing?" Renji mused, "I'd ask you the same thing? What the hell was that? Why'd you pass out like that?"

"You're asking me?" Ichigo complained, sitting up more slowly as Rukia helped him, "I dunno why I passed out. Maybe because I just recently fought a god? What d'you think?"

"You seem to be recovering well from your ordeal," the old healer told him, "In fact, you are remarkably recovered. I was under the impression that you had been told to take it easy, but your body doesn't seem to show the stress that it did the last time I encountered you."

"Well, I've been resting…" Ichigo began.

"Oh, it's definitely more than that," the old man assured him, "From what I heard, you had some kind of reaction when you brushed up against young master Tetsuya?"

"Eh, yeah, that was when everything got really bright and I passed out. I woke up in this dark place with a white moon and a lot of stars.

"You were aware during your unconsciousness?" Byakuya inquired, frowning.

"Ah, yeah," Ichigo answered, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck, "I was in this weird place with a lake that had pictures on it. I mean, not pictures, but things that happened. There was a guy under a waterfall…a naked guy."

"Erm…" Rukia said, blushing, "I think Ichigo's lost it a little."

"What the heck? A naked guy?" Renji mused.

Byakuya gave the shinigami substitute a stern look and Ichigo blinked and made a discomfited face.

"What?" he mused, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No," Byakuya said in an oddly unsettled voice, "It is just that what you said…"

He stood abruptly.

"I will return momentarily," he said brusquely, "Ichigo, I want you to remain here until I return."

He flash stepped away, leaving the others staring after him.

"What's up with him?" Ichigo asked in a mystified tone.

"I dunno," Renji muttered, "Looks like he might've come up with something."

"He might have," Rukia agreed.

"He did seem interested when you mentioned the naked guy under the waterfall," Renji recalled.

Rukia scowled and smacked him on the back of the head.

"OW! What're you doing?" the redhead objected.

"I'm smacking you for talking without thinking. That's what I'm doing," Rukia huffed.

"Well, the guy under the waterfall _was _cute," Ichigo snickered, "but I think your cousin, Tetsuya is cuter."

Renji and Rukia blinked and exchanged surprised glances and Ichigo blushed dark pink.

"I didn't mean…!"

"Oh my," Michio chuckled, "This is so much fun, being with you youngsters, but unfortunately, I need to go and check on a few others who are still recovering. _Arigato_, for the entertainment."

"Eh…um, thanks, Michio," Ichigo said, still blushing brightly.

As the healer left, he looked back at Rukia and Renji, who were trying unsuccessfully to hide their smirks. Their eyes met and the two dissolved into laughter.

"SHUT UP!" Ichigo snapped.

"You're the one who started it by saying Tetsuya is cute," Rukia teased.

"I didn't say that exactly," Ichigo argued defensively, "I said he was cuter than the other guy."

"The naked guy?" Renji snorted.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Ichigo roared, "Okay, fine! I think Tetsuya is cute. There! Are you happy now?"

His jaw dropped and he stared in dismay as he realized Byakuya was standing in the garden doorway to the room, watching them through quiet, disapproving eyes. Renji sucked in a surprised breath, then coughed and blushed.

"Ah, sorry. We were being too noisy. We'll uh…"

"You will stay," Byakuya said firmly, "and if all of you will quit your noisy antics for a moment, I will explain what I found. Ichigo, you said that while you were in Tetsuya's inner world, you saw a naked man under a waterfall?"

He shot Renji a deadly glare as the redhead started to laugh, then hastily turned it into another cough instead.

"Yeah," Ichigo answered, lowering his eyes, "so?"

"So," Byakuya replied, "I want you to look at this."

The noble held up an opened book, showing a picture of a beautiful dark-haired, blue-eyed man bathing beneath a silvery shower of sparkling water. Instantly, Ichigo's eyes widened.

"Th-that's him!" he exclaimed, "That's the naked guy!"

He shot a glare at Renji, who bit his lips and tried to look serious.

"Who is that guy?" the Shiba heir asked.

"The man in that picture is Kuchiki Hajime, the progenitor of the entire Kuchiki clan…and the soul king's consort."

"Eh…the soul king?" Ichigo mused, thinking back to the king that had died.

"I know what you are thinking," Byakuya said quietly.

He paused and raised a protective shield around the room.

"What're you doing?" Renji asked, frowning, "What's goin' on?"

"What's going on is that I cannot speak the words I need to say without ensuring utmost privacy," Byakuya answered.

He turned his dark grey eyes on Ichigo.

"The king that you are thinking of? The one who died in the conflict and was replaced with Ywach's body? That was not the king who made our worlds."

"What?" Ichigo whispered, blinking, "What're you saying, Byakuya?"

"I am saying that our soul king, the one who created our worlds and ruled them with Kuchiki Hajime at his side…was killed, along with Hajime in the first war with the quincies…or so it was thought."

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, his face paling, "Byakuya, what's going on? And what does it have to do with Kuchiki Hajime? Why was Hajime in Tetsuya's inner world?"

"I don't know," Byakuya said darkly, "but I do know this. You need to keep this to yourselves and do not discuss it, except within protective shielding. I need time to explore this."

"Do you want some help with that?" Renji asked, standing.

"Yes. In a moment, Renji."

Byakuya turned the pages of the old book to another that showed the lovely, blue-eyed Hajime lying in the arms of a golden-haired, golden-eyed man, who was smiling down at him as bright white light surrounded the two.

"Hey," Ichigo said, staring, "that's kinda like the light that…"

"It is akin to the light that surrounded you and my cousin," Byakuya finished, "It is a light of complete resonance."

Rukia's eyes rounded.

"Complete resonance?" she repeated breathlessly.

"What is that? What's complete resonance?" Ichigo asked, "I mean, I've heard of resonances, even perfect resonances, but what's a complete resonance?"

Byakuya drew a steadying breath.

"Resonance is the connection between souls. The stronger the resonance, the more closely bonded the souls are. A perfect resonance is the closest that two shinigami souls can be."

"But then…what's a complete resonance?" Ichigo asked.

"A complete resonance is a divine resonance that happens between transcendent souls…It is, simply put, _two bodies, one soul_."

Ichigo stared back at Byakuya wordlessly, trying to fathom what he'd just heard.

"But," Renji mused, "Tetsuya's not a transcendent…is he?"

Byakuya's eyes flickered suddenly with realization and his breath caught.

"What is it?" Ichigo asked anxiously, "Byakuya, what's going on?"

"Renji, come with me," the noble said sternly.

"Sure," Renji answered, moving closer to him, "but uh, where're we going?"

"We are going to see Aizen Sosuke."


End file.
